TS60 110volt in the US. Plug-it installed

[Coen]

[...]
That and the US EM requirements are sricter than in Europe - from what I gather from the IT equipment experience. Either way I would not over-think this. At worst the saw may create interference with your home FM radio ..

Since when? Used to be the reverse. That is why Lenovo (used to?) ship their Thinkpads in the USA with a 2-pole cord and in Europe they used a grounded design with 2P+E.

 

[jeh]

Either way, running a UK 110V tool in the US is an "on your own hazard" situation. Will all the legal/non-legal issues.

The same as opening *any* tool and reconfiguring the electrical wiring is .. not advised. Period.

There are no legal ramifications to using a 110v tool in the US. No reconfiguration or opening of the tool is required. One can buy the corresponding end and make a 1' adapter to get the US plug. The motors are identical. I have several UK tools and they all work and I have two saws that are over 3 years old working without a single issue. At the time the price spread was so big between US and UK it was a simple decision to go UK. I happen to have a US version of one of the saws and the only difference between them is the plug.

The only thing I would not do and where I could see a potential issue would be using something made for another country that runs without a user such as a refrigerator.

Advice not to do it fine, but the legal/non-legal issues are absurd.

 

[Svar]

Either way, running a UK 110V tool in the US is an "on your own hazard" situation. Will all the legal/non-legal issues.
The same as opening *any* tool and reconfiguring the electrical wiring is .. not advised. Period.

There are no legal ramifications to using a 110v tool in the US. No reconfiguration or opening of the tool is required. One can buy the corresponding end and make a 1' adapter to get the US plug. The motors are identical. I have several UK tools and they all work and I have two saws that are over 3 years old working without a single issue. At the time the price spread was so big between US and UK it was a simple decision to go UK. I happen to have a US version of one of the saws and the only difference between them is the plug.
The only thing I would not do and where I could see a potential issue would be using something made for another country that runs without a user such as a refrigerator.
Advice not to do it fine, but the legal/non-legal issues are absurd.

I second that. I have 110V UK tools and they work without issues. In case of Mafell MT55cc both motor and speed controller for both countries are identical. Official dealer (only one for the entire US) probably won't take it for repair, but that's fine with me. They will sell you parts.
I even use 40 year old 100V Japanese beam planer on 120V. No issues. They are built like tanks taking into account questionable power sources on construction sites. I doubt the manufacturer even bothered to make separate motors for US market.

 

[mino]

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There are no legal ramifications to using a 110v tool in the US. No reconfiguration or opening of the tool is required.
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Well, this thread is about modifying a tool in a specific way.

Secondly, what you write is not universal due to some tools operating at increased rpm due to the 60Hz power. Which may be out of spec for a given machine. Sure, that is not the case with the TS 60 using full-conversion drivers.

But in general advising such broadly on the general public internet is just negligent. You never know who will take that for granted. Especially since this forum is semi-official, being run by FestoolUSA.

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Advice not to do it fine, but the legal/non-legal issues are absurd.
...

That statement was not written lightly and words were chosen.

TLDR:
I did not use "legality" in that sentence - which you seem to reply to. Not aware of any "legality" issues indeed.

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That statement holds true for running *any* non-approved/non-standard equipment. You are on your own -> should anything bad happen, you are fully responsible for the consequences, and a bit beyond in practice. It is legally (close to) manufacturing own tool and then using it. Nothing illegal about it as a consumer, in *most* jurisdictions. But OHSA & Co. will want to have a word the moment you give that tool to an employee. And the insurers will want to have a word if there is a fire and there is a suspiction the tool caused it..

When we use complaint tools /or bought from an official source like with Mafell/ BIG part of the liability goes to the tool make or the importer. That is not the case once a tool is modified. All that liability, however limited, moves onto the "maker".

Not sure how it is in the US precisely with OHSA & Co. Over here, that means ANY certification the manufacturer did to prove the safety of a tool gets invalidated by a major modification. This means the authorities may require them to be (re-)proven by the employeer if a tool was modified. Sometime electrical revision report is enough. Sometimes not. It may be a pretty major chunk of change to get that, so companies tend to modify tools only if a major benefit is gained by doing so. Not worth the (legal) hassle.

These are the "legal" issues I referred.

As for the non-legal ones, those are the technical things like parts availability, the potential arcing aspect discussed earlier, etc. In this specific case they are mostly OK though. I would personally take the plunge.
But would never blankedly/publicly advise it to anyone I do not know his skills with electrical stuff or his legal standing ref. company/DYI/etc.

All I ask is we avoid blanket statements anything non-compliant with regulations is "OK" just because it is so *for me*. Whoever "me" means.